Head-block for sawmills



UTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB W. TRUOX, OF RICHFORD, VERMONT.

HEAD-BLOCK FOR SAWIVIILLS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 24,676, dated July 5, 1859-.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, Jaoon `W. TRUox, of Richford, in the county of Franklin and State of Vcrmonhhave invented certain new and useful mprcvements in Head-Blocks for Sawmills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure l,is a plan view of the head block resting upon the carriage. Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the same with the lever and ratchet wheel removed. Fig. 3, is a vertical section through the red lines (ai, fc) of Fig. l. Fig. il, is an enlarged view showing the manner of operating the rockshaft with the spring catch shown in red lines. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same, with the ratchet wheel removed from the shaft.

My invention consists in operating a slide to which the log to be sawed is spiked, by means of a lever and pawl, in such manner that a lateral movement can 4be imparted to thev said log corresponding to the desired thickness of the boards to be sawed; and gaging the same by a gage wheel hereinafter described. Also, in clamping the headblock to the carriage by means of two clamps which are operated by a lever so as to read ily disengage the clamps from the carriage in order to adjust the head block to the length of the log to be sawed and to secure the block and log to the carriage rigidly during the sawing operation hereinafter described.

A; represents the carriage ways upon which rests the head-block B, which is made to slide upon the carriage in order to adjust it to the length of the log to be sawed.

C, C, are slide-bars which support the slide plate D, on which the dog a', is attached, for the purpose of securing the end of the log to the slide.

E, is a rockshaft to which is keyed a pinion E, which operates a rackV upon the slide plate D, said rockshaft having' on its extreme end a large ratchet wheel F, keyed to and moving with said shaft.

G, Gr, are supports for the latch H, which is provided with teeth a, Z), and is held down upon the front support G, by a helical spring c.

(Z, is a lever pivoted to the front support Gr, and provided with a notch for the purpose of holding the latch H up, when it is desired to disengage it from the parts hereinafter' described.

I, is a. latch wheel keyed to the shaft E, and provided with teeth into which the tooth c fits, when the latch H is relieved from the lever (Z, or from a notch in a cam wheel R, the latch heilig' held down in this position by the spring c. Next to this wheel and turning loosely upon the rock-shaft E, is a gage wheel M, which has cogged teeth upon its surface, numbered according to the width of the planks to be sawed. N, is a spring ratchet which prevents this wheel from turning, except when relieved from the teeth on the wheel; this ratchet is fastened to a block O, upon which rests the setting lever P. Between this lever and the age wheel M, is a cam wheel R also turning loosely upon the shaft E. This wheel is provided with a reciprocating catch f, shown clearly in Fig. 4, in red lines. This catch projects from either side of the wheel R, and is held in place by spring plates g, g; the projecting portion f, of the catch passes into a groove in the face of the gage-wheel, and when the cam so as to bring this portion f', of the cat-ch in contact with a plate L, that portion of the catch f is drawn in, flush with the surface of the wheel, and this operation frees it from the setting lever P, and the wheel R, is returned by a spring S, back to the position from whence it first started.

2', is a lip which is fixed to the surface of the cam-wheel R, and rests upon the block O; this serves as a stop to prevent the wheel from turning any farther than this block. The lever P fits closely to the side of the cam-wheel R; and as it is moved forward, it comes in contact with the portion f, of the catch f, and operates the cam-wheel as above described; at the same time, a pawl U, upon the lever, operates the ratchetwheel F, so as to turn the shaft E, to the required distance; this being regulated as hereinafter described.

The log being spiked to the dog a', upon the slide D, .in the usual manner, the gage wheel M is set, indicating the thickness of the plank to be cut. Then the operator raises the setting lever P; this carries with it the cam wheel R, by pressing against the catch f. This operation brings the pawl U, against the ratchet wheel F, and raises the latch H, out of the notch in the cam wheel and also in the spur Wheel I. The shaft now being free to move, the lever then moves the shaft E, and With it the slideV and held in this position by the notch 0nV the lever cl, which allows the slide to be returned, when the log is spiked securely and the operation of sawing and feeding the log to the saw is continued as above set forth. The mechanism for operating` the slide D, is covered by a bonnet X, to prevent the saW dust from getting in the parts and choking up and deranging the machinery. The

head-block B, is fastened in the required position to the carriage-ways A, by means of clamps V, V, pivoted to a lever W (Fig. 2) and held against the head-block by staples m, m. These clamps are operated by an eccentric slot n, upon the lever Y Which is pivoted to the block B, so that by moving this lever back or forth the clamps are drawn up tightly or released from the carriage, and the head-block can be adjusted to the various lengths of log to be savved.

'Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: t

1. The combination and arrangement of the ratchet Wheel F, setting lever P, cam Wheel "R, gage Wheel M, and spur Wheel I, With the spring latch H, in the manner and for the purposes hereinabove specied.

Q'. I claim the clamps V, the lever WV, and eccentric lever Y, arranged and operating I as herein-above specified.

. JACOB WV. TRUOX. vWitnesses:

WM. FAY HOPKINS, LUoIUs R. PARKER. 

